Read More

Her mum, Julie Drury, said today (February 22) her daughter was outstanding at school and very clever.

"She wanted to be a doctor," she said. "At primary school they said she had the ability to do that. She then wanted to be a midwife."

Duane Ballin (left) and Tara Newbold (right)

But her mum said Ballin kept coming and going into her life and it meant she never quite achieved her ambition.

"She was strong when she was away from him," added her mum. "Then he came back on the scene and brought her back down."

She insisted her daughter would never have done drugs and was totally against them.

Tara Newbold

And she was mystified by the evidence that her daughter had died as a result of her reaction to cocaine.

"My daughter wasn't a drug addict and did not believe in drugs," she added. "Her thing was a few glasses of wine and a few cigarettes. She was the most caring, loveliest girl you could ever meet and always too good for him.

"She would have done anything for anybody. She volunteered at a charity shop."

Read More

Mrs Drury listened to the graphic evidence during Ballin's trial and said: "I knew over the years what he was capable of. She told me about a few things at the beginning. Then we agreed not to talk about it.

"I thought he was capable of attacking her violently. I was always worried about that. I always gave him the benefit of the doubt.

"I'm a mother who has lost my daughter. I gave birth to her. All these 15 months has been the most terrible, horrific time of my life."

Tara Newbold

Her stepfather, Peter Drury, who was in court every day to witness the heartbreaking evidence, also paid tribute to her.

"She loved children," he said. "She started a midwifery course. He came back on the scene and it was dropped. Everything she did to make a positive of herself went out of the window when he came back into her life."